Bung driving apparatus



United States Patent 3,285,104 BUNG DRIVING APPARATUS Otto K. T. Baumann, 8656 Picture Ridge, Peoria, Ill. Filed May 20, 1965, Ser. No. 457,375 6 Claims. (Cl. 81-5235) This invention relates to a bung driving apparatus and more particularly to a power operated means for accurately and rapidly driving bungs and which may simultaneously emboss the bung with the filling date and other pertinent information.

In filling barrels or fractional barrels made either of wood or metal with beer, it has been the conventional practice for many years to fill the barrel through a bung hole and then to seal the bung hole with a bung in the form of a tapered hard wood plug. The customary procedure has been to set the small end of the bung in the bung hole and to drive it tightly home with one or more blows of a sledge. This is not only hard and slow work but also leads to the possibility that, unless the bung is driven squarely and accurately which requires a great deal of skill, it may be tilted slightly so that it will leak and cause loss of pressure in the beer. This results in a flat unsatisfactory beer.

It has been also the usual practice to burn or brand into the outer face of the bung, prior to driving it, the date of filling of the barrel and the batch number or other pertinent information. This requires that all bungs to be used on .a given date be prebranded and any bungs not used must be destroyed. Furthermore, the branding operation has been a slow and expensive one and when done by automatic machinery has required the use of complicated and expensive machines.

It is accordingly one of the objects of the present invention to provide bung driving apparatus which will accurately locate a bung in a bung hole and will then accurately and rapidly drive it home with a minimum possibility of error and without requiring a high degree of skill.

Another object is to provide bung driving apparatus which will emboss the bung with the date of filling and other desired information simultaneously with the driving thereof.

According to a feature of the invention, a hung to be driven is accurately held in a recess in one end of a guide sleeve and is driven by a blow imparted to it by a power operated head movable in the sleeve. Preferably, the head carries embossing indicia to emboss the bung as it is driven.

A further object of the invention is to provide bung driving apparatus in which operation of the power means to drive a bung is prevented until the bung is properly positioned in a bung hole for driving.

The above and other objects and features of the invention will be more readily apparent from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of the bung driving apparatus embodying the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view through the apparatus showing a bung held to be positioned for driving in a bung hole;

FIGURE 3 is a partial sectional view showing the position of the parts at the completion of a bung driving operation; and

FIGURE 4 is a face view of the bung driving head.

The apparatus as shown, comprises a guide sleeve which may be a completely tubular member or which could be formed as a more or less open framework providing a generally sleeve-like configuration. At one end the sleeve is counterbored or similarly recessed as shown at 10a to receive the large end of a conventional tapered 3,285,104 Patented Nov. 15, 1966 bung as shown at 11 and terminating in a stop shoulder 10b. The size of the recess is such that the tapered end of the bung will have a tight sliding fit therein so that it will be held frictionally in place with its smaller end projecting beyond the end of the sleeve. Preferably, with a conventional bung of about 1 diameter and Vs thickness, the smaller end of the bung will project beyond the end of the sleeve about The upper end of the sleeve is preferably flanged for connection to the end of a fluid cylinder 12 which is secured to the sleeve in axial alignment therewith. The fluid cylinder may be any conventional type of air or hydraulic operated apparatus, including a piston 13 slidable vertically in the cylinder and having a piston rod 14 projecting through the lower end of the cylinder and carrying a driving head 15. The piston is normally urged upwardly in the cylinder to approximately the position illustrated in which the driving head 15 is spaced above the bung 11. A shown, a spring 16 is provided normally to urge the piston upwardly although it will be apparent that fluid pressure supplied to the lower end of the piston through a double acting valve could serve ,this purpose.

The cylinder is provided with a handle 17 for convenient manipulation thereof, and a fluid supply conduit 18 is connected to the outer end of the handle. The handle is provided with a passage therethrough to communicate past a valve 19 with an upper end of the cylinder 12 as best seen in FIGURE 2. Any conventional type of valve may be employed which normally vents the upper end of the cylinder to atmosphere and, which when operated by a trigger 21, will connect the upper end of the cylinder to the fluid supply passage in the handle.

The trigger 21, as shown in FIGURE 2, is adapted to be latched against movement until the apparatus is properly positioned on a barrel with a bung carried thereby properly located in the bung hole in the barrel. For this purpose the trigger is provided with a vertical extension 22 and a pin 23 is movable between the vertical extension and the adjacent side wall of the cylinder. The pin is preferably formed by the olfset end of a rod 24 whose lower end extends slidably through guide blocks 25 carried by the sleeve 10. A spring 26 acting between the upper guide block 25 and a collar on the road 24 urges the rod downward to a position in which its lower end projects beyond the lower end of the sleeve 10, as seen in FIGURE 1. With the rod in its lower position, the pin 23 engages the projection 22 on the trigger and prevents the trigger from being moved to operate the valve 19. When the pin is raised to the position shown in FIGURE 2, it moves out of registration with the projection 22 and allows the trigger to be moved.

In use, a bung, as shown at 11, is inserted in the recess in the end of the guide sleeve 10 until its larger end engages the stop shoulder 10b with the parts in the position shown in FIGURES 1 and 2. After a barrel, as partially shown at 27, has been filled, the apparatus may be positioned against the barrel with the projecting tapered end of the bung extending loosely into a bung hole 28 in the barrel. With the apparatus in this position, the rod 24 will engage the barrel adjacent to the bung hole and will be pushed up to the position shown in FIG- URE 2 to release the trigger.

At this time, the trigger can be squeezed to open the valve 19 and supply either air under pressure or similar actuating fluid to the upper end of the cylinder 12. This will cause the piston 13 and the head 15 to move downward rapidly so that the head 15 will strike the upper end of the bung a sharp controlled blow to drive the bung home to the position indicated in FIGURE 3. It will be seen that the head is actually guided by the piston rod 14 as well as by the sleeve 10 so that it will strike the bung squarely and will drive it squarely into the bung hole to efiect a tight, reliable seal. Upon completion of the driving operation, the trigger may be released and a new bung may be inserted in the recess in the sleeve for a succeeding operation. It will be seen that this entire operation can be performed rapidly and accurately with a minimum amount of labor and without requiring a high degree of skill.

According to another feature of the invention, the head may simultaneously emboss the bung as the bung is driven. For this purpose the head, as best seen in FIGURE 4, may carry raised characters as indicated generally at 29 indicative of the date of filling of the barrel, and the batch number or other pertinent data. It will be understood that these characters are preferably formed on inserts which can be removably inserted in openings in the head so that they can be changed easily as required.

When the bung is struck by the head 15 during a driving operation, the embossing characters on the lower face thereof will cut into the upper surface of the bung and will mark it with identification of a filling date, the batch number, and any other desired information. Thus, with the present apparatus each bung may properly be marked as it is driven to eliminate the necessity for premarking and possible wastage of bungs.

While one embodiment of the invention has been show-n and described in detail, it will be understood that this is illustrative only and is not to be taken as a definition of the scope of the invention or reference being had to this purpose to the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Bung driving apparatus comprising a tubular guide sleeve formed at one end with a recess to receive the larger end of a tapered bung, stop means in the sleeve spaced from said one end to engage and limit insertion of a bung thereinto a position with the smaller end of the bung projecting beyond the end of the sleeve, a head movable lengthwise in the sleeve from a position spaced from said one end thereof to a position substantially flush with said one end thereof, and power means to move the head in the sleeve whereby the head will strike a bung in said recess and drive it from the sleeve into a hung hole in a container.

2. The apparatus -of claim 1 in which the head is larger end of a tapered bung, stop means in the sleeve spaced from said one end. to engage and limit insertion of a hung thereinto a position with the smaller end of the bung projecting beyond the end of the sleeve, a head movable lengthwise in the sleeve from a position spaced from said one end thereof to a position substantially flush with said one end thereof, power means connected to the head to move it in the sleeve, control means for the power means including a trigger, latch means engageable with the trigger to prevent operation thereof, and a rod connected to the latch means and normally projecting beyond said one end of the sleeve to engage a container when the projecting end of a bung in the sleeve is inserted in a hung hole in the container to release the latch means.

4. Bung driving apparatus comprising a tubular guide sleeve formed at one end with a recess to receive the larger end of a tapered bung, stop means in the sleeve spaced from said one end to engage and limit insertion of a hung thereinto a position with the smaller end of the bung projecting beyond the end of the sleeve, a head movable lengthwise in the sleeve from a position spaced from said one end thereof to a position substantially flush with said one end thereof, a fluid cylinder connected to the other end of the sleeve in alignment therewith, a piston in the cylinder connected to the head to move it, and a valve to control supply of operating fluid to the cylinder thereby to control movement of the piston and head.

I operate the valve, a latch member engageable with the formed with embossing indicia to emboss the bung as r it is driven.

3. Bung driving apparatus comprising a tubular guide sleeve formed at one end with a recess to receive the trigger to latch it against movement, and a part normally projecting beyond said one end of the sleeve and movable toward said one end of the sleeve by engagement with a container to release the latch part.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,079,313 11/1913 Col-byetal 1o1-9 2,870,743 1/1959 Juilfs 227 3,194,324 7/1965 Langas 227-130x JAMES L. JONES, 111., Primary Examiner. 

1. BUNG DRIVINNG APPARATUS COMPRISING A TUBULAR GUIDE SLEEVE FORMED AT ONE END WITH A RECESS TO RECEIVE THE LARGER END OF A TAPERED BUNG, A STOP MEANS IN THE SLEEVE SPACED FROM SAID ONE END TO ENGAGE AND LIMIT INSERTION OF A BUNG THEREINTO A POSITION WITH THE SMALLER END OF THE BUNG PROJECTING BEYOND THE END OF THE SLEEVE, A HEAD MOVABLE LENGTHWISE IN THE SLEEVE FROM A POSITION SPACED FROM SAID ONE END THEREOF TO A POSITION SUBSTANTIALLY FLUSH WITH SAID ONE END THEREOF, AND POWER MEANS TO MOVE THE HEAD IN THE SLEEVE WHEREBY THE HEAD WILL STRIKE A BUNG IN SAID RECESS AND DRIVE IT FROM THE SLEEVE INTO A BUNG HOLE IN A CONTAINER. 